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John Diggle had seen Oliver make a lot of stupid decisions over the last year and a half.
Suddenly taking up again with Sara Lance might be the stupidest yet.
He'd had been keeping a close eye on Felicity, because anyone with a brain and not named Oliver Queen was aware of how the little ray of sunshine felt about Oliver. And for the most part, Felicity seemed to be taking it all in stride. Of course she was. The girl let nothing bother her.
But when Tockman blew up the computer in the Foundry and Felicity sarcastically dismissed Oliver and told him (basically) to get the hell out of there, Digg took the opportunity to ask her directly how she was doing.
Somehow he wasn't surprised when she said the problem wasn't Oliver's relationship with Sara, but how Sara could do anything, and why did they need Felicity? She was doubting her place on the team. So he took a moment to reassure her, and mentally cursed at Oliver again.
When Felicity told him it was going to take a while to get everything sorted out, he volunteered for a Big Belly run. Oliver and Sara were at the Lance family get together dinner and Felicity could use a few minutes to herself. He took his time. He shouldn't have, because by the time he got back, Felicity was gone.
There were some programs flickering on one of the computers, which he didn't understand but poked at anyways. He'd eaten his Big Belly meal and tried getting hold of Felicity without any success by the time Oliver and Sara came back to the Foundry. Oliver was obviously agitated. Digg was tempted to ask him how well the dinner with his ex-girlfriend had gone but the answer was apparent, and he didn't feel like ducking a punch right now. And by now he was worried enough about Felicity he held onto one last hope--that she'd reached out to Oliver about where she'd gone. It wasn't like her to just disappear.
But Oliver hadn't heard from her yet either--until Oliver's phone rang and he indicated it was their girl. He tried to relax--at least until Oliver let out a sharp, "What?" in response to Felicity. He bit out, "We're coming," before he abruptly hung up the phone and started for his bow and suit.
"She went to the bank," Oliver growled. "Tockman took the bait and she went on her own. Sara--"
"Suiting up," she replied, leaving Digg alone with Oliver as he started to change.
Digg checked his gun and grabbed a Bluetooth to go out into the field. He waited for Oliver to articulate the things he was muttering in Russian under his breath. He didn't have long to wait.
"Why the hell would she go out alone?" Oliver demanded as he zipped up his jacket, then grabbed his quiver.
Digg leaned back against one of the tables, folding his arms across his chest, and just gave Oliver a look. "She wanted to feel like part of the team again."
Oliver's grip on the strap of his quiver slipped as his head whipped up. "What do you mean? Felicity's never been off the team."
"Have you told her that?" He shook his head as Oliver's face reflected just how confused he was by the question. "Look, man. She's blaming herself for Tockman blowing up our computers. Sara has a different skill set than her. And Sara has been a more active part of the team the last little bit."
"Sara's just doing what she's been doing," the younger man replied. He scowled as he reached for his mask. "She's not replacing anyone."
If he thought it'd do any good, he'd give Oliver a good knock upside the head, because it was obvious at least in a romantic sense Oliver was trying to distract himself from his not very platonic feelings towards Felicity with his current relationship with Sara. But that was a topic for a different day. "That doesn't mean Felicity doesn't feel...a little left out," he told Oliver. He saw Sara coming back towards them all suited up, so he pushed himself off the table and unfolded his arms. "Just think about it. Now, let's go get Felicity before Tockman decides to make his move."
Digg caught the way Oliver grimaced as he pulled his hood over his head. Good. Maybe something finally got through his thick stubborn skull. Then it was all business as they left the Foundry to make sure their irreplaceable Felicity returned safely to the Foundry.
He'd had rejoined Oliver when Sara's voice finally came over the comms, letting the men know Tockman was incapacitated.
When they arrived on the scene, Oliver had taken two steps towards Tockman when he registered the blood on Felicity's borrowed jacket and how Sara was pressing her hand to a wound. It was hard to tell with the way the hood cast shadows across Oliver's face, but it almost looked like the blood drained completely out of Oliver's face as he switched directions.
"Felicity?" he demanded in a rough voice, an edge of panic coloring the last syllable. "What happened?"
"She saved my life," Sara answered. "And took down Tockman."
"Told his cell phone to commit suicide," the girl in question announced as Digg crouched down next to Sara to take a look at the bullet wound in Felicity's shoulder. "And it did. Sara said I didn't kill him, so yay--frack, laughing hurts."
He took over pressing his hand to her wound and glanced up in time to see Oliver's hand curl into a helpless fist. "Why don't you and Sara take care of trussing up Tockman," Digg suggested, recognizing the man needed an outlet for his emotions. "I'll take Felicity to the hospital."
"No!" Felicity protested with a sudden fierceness that made John bite his lip to keep from chuckling. "No hospitals. You can patch me up in the Foundry."
"Felicity." Oliver's voice sounded like a taut bow string, ready to snap at any moment. "You really should go to a hospital. There's no reason you can't--"
"Foundry," she insisted stubbornly. "Just like the rest of the team."
He caught the way Oliver's whole body froze. Then he nodded. "Okay. The Foundry. No hospitals."
"Good," Felicity declared before she hissed in pain again. "But I'm not gonna turn down painkillers."
"We have those," Digg reassured her as he helped ease her up while Oliver and Sara dealt with Tockman. "Oliver just refuses to use them." He kept an arm around her as they began to slowly walk back through the bank. "We're going to have to talk about the importance of bringing backup for the next time you get an urge to run off and hero."
"You're kind of mad at me about that, aren't you?"
"You're smarter than that, Felicity," he replied seriously as he helped her up the stairs. "You had me worried. You had all of us worried."
"I know," she said, her voice quiet and subdued and tinged with pain. So he decided she had gotten the message loud and clear and added, "And you let a perfectly good Big Belly Burger run go to waste."
She laughed, then winced as the action jostled her wound. He got her safely loaded in the van, and once Sara and Oliver joined them, they all headed back to the Foundry (though Oliver asked twice more if Felicity was really 100% sure she wanted to skip the hospital). He made sure Felicity got a dose of oxycodone before Sara started patching her up. And he damn near fell over in shock when Oliver actually took his advice and let Felicity know that she always had a place on the team.
Maybe there was hope for Oliver Queen yet.
He took Felicity home and made sure she was set up with more painkillers and food and her Netflix queue (she insisted on the last part). And when she sleepily asked him to stay and watch a few episodes of that weird British sci-fi show, he took over one end of the couch and propped her feet up in his lap. As ridiculous as they both could be, Oliver and Felicity had become a part of his family. And when family needed him, John Diggle was always there.